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EDF raises cost estimate for Flamanville nuclear power station to €8 billion

04 December 2012

French state-controlled power giant Electricite de France said on December 3 that the nuclear power station being built at Flamanville in Normandy will cost €8 bn ($10.5 bn), €2 bn more than previously estimated. EDF said the latest cost estimate had been caused by construction delays.

The Flamanville nuclear plant in western France is now expected to come online in 2016

The estimate was raised from €5 bn to €6 bn in July 2011, compared with an initial forecast of €3.3 bn.

The power station’s reactors, designed by Areva, are the first new ones to be installed in France for 15 years. After an initial forecast of 2014, EDF now says the plant will be ready to produce electricity in 2016.

EDF said 93% of the civil engineering is completed and 36% of the electro-mechanical equipment is in place.

The announcement raises doubts over EDF's ability to rein in costs for its new-build nuclear reactors at a time it is seeking to build exactly the same reactors in the UK as part of a nuclear power revival there.

But EDF said that its cost estimate for Hinkley Point C, the most advanced nuclear new-build project in the UK, already included the lessons learned from Flamanville.